ArsGeek

Star Wars has ruled the entertainment galaxy for what seems like forever. Since I’ve been alive, Star Wars has always been around in some shape or form. Whether it’s books, bed sheets, holiday musicals it seems like Star Wars will always be a part of my life. Nothing has really come close to capturing the magic of the original trilogy, but one form of media that has come close is in video games.

If you’ve kept up with the history of video games, and Star Wars then you’d know that its mostly been a pleasurable journey. From flight sims, to FPS’s, to even capturing the strategy behind Star Wars. This is a tribute to the greatness of Star Wars video games through out the years. I hope you enjoy it.

Star Wars Tie Fighter — X-Wing — X-wing vs. TIE Fighter — X-Wing Alliance

You could take your pick of any of the games featured above, and you’d be playing one of the greatest flight sim games of all time. When LucasArts first released X-Wing (1993), they could have easily just rested on the laurels of letting gamers man the cockpit of a Rebel Alliance starfighter. Instead, they came out guns blazing and provided an experience that when you first played; you couldn’t believe it. The game started just before the events in ‘A New Hope’ and had you on a mission for delivering the Death Star plans to Princess Leia. Later, the game would act as a parallel to the events that occured in A New Hope. This pseudo-side story really immersed Star Wars fan further into the struggle found in the movies.

The gameplay was pretty advanced, and even with a flight stick there were plenty of buttons you had to remember. It wasn’t just about ship battles. You had escort missions, scanning missions. The game truly offered a varied experience, all the while with smooth and accurate controls.

A year later, Tie Fighter would be released and is the game that a majority of gamers believe is the best of the Star Wars flight sim games. Instead of directly following the original trilogy storyline, the game offered a more independent mythos. It started just after the Battle of Hoth, and ended just before the Battle of Endor. The game had you interacting mainly with Grand Admiral Thrawn, a fan boy favorite. But there were options for side missions with the Emperor, Darth Vader, and even a shady conspirator.

X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter would take the spirit of the first two, and bring it to the multi-player arena. It was one of the first games to ever offer 8-player online co-op , with the Balance of Power expansion pack. If you didn’t have the Balance of Power expansion, all you really had was a multi-player fest.

X-Wing Alliance would be the culmination of pretty much everything that was great about the three games prior to it. It had the same engaging gameplay. Only this time you piloted the Millenium Falcon. The largest addition of Alliance, was the ability to create custom battle scenarios. The game allowed for the inclusion of a numerous amount of starships.

Dark Forces — Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II — Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries Of The Sith — Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast — Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

Since the original Star Wars trilogy, there have been very few Star Wars stories worth telling on the big screen. Yes, I’m including Episodes 1, 2, and half of 3. One storyline that does the Star Wars universe justice is the Dark Forces series. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that the Dark Forces series is the best Star Wars story told besides the original trilogy.

The gameplay behind the Dark Forces series has evolved, and has really changed from the original all the way through Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. In the original Dark Forces, gamers were subject to a standard FPS. The game didn’t come out much later than Doom, and in many ways evolved the FPS genre. This game implemented the ability to have full viewing available to the gamer. You could run, jump, swim, and look around fully which might simple but was revolutionary at the time.

After the original Dark Forces game, we received Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight. This is the game in the series that really set it off, and became a classic in the eyes of most PC gamers. It expanded upon the original Dark Forces, by including well put together FMV sequences. A much updated graphics engine, and most importantly brought us lightsaber combat. Kyle Kataran’s story really fleshed out and brought story telling elements to the FPS genre that really weren’t seen before it. The expansion pack “Mysteries of the Sith” brought a character that has gone down in legend as a cult classic, Mara Jade. This feisty saber wielding vixen was a lot to handle, and really deserved her own spin off series.

Jedi Outcast, which is my favorite game in the entire series took the ideas in Jedi Knight and heavily enhanced upon them. The graphics made a huge leap, and the effects given off by the saber were stunning to say the least. The animations, and move set that Kyle Katarn was given really took Jedi combat to the next level. There were three different stances for saber combat, each with different moves that really added a depth of strategy to saber duels. The online aspect of the game is what really set it off, as you’ll find your most dedicated gamers lurking in the still running Jedi Outcast servers. Jedi Academy was kind of an off-shoot of Jedi Outcast, in that the game no longer followed Kyle Katarn but a jedi apprentice. This game featured Luke Skywalker, Kyle Katarn, Lando Calrissian, and Chewbacca. Billy Dee Willaims, and Mark Hammill both provided voices for their characters. Jedi Academy was pretty weak on the story side, as the game felt very divided in terms of how the levels were laid out. Very little continuity. It more than made up with this by offering a very robust multiplayer experience. On top of the three standard light saber stances, the jedi staff, and dual wield sabers were added. Of course, any JA vet will tell you that the trust single saber is the way to go.

Super Star Wars — Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back — Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

Before the Dark Forces series, and the flight sims, there was the “Super” Star Wars series on the SNES. This line of games has a special place in my heart, and was an important part of my gaming history in the early 90’s. More important than that though, is that this series of games is the only other representation of the original trilogy other than the movies. What’s funny is that the games actually do the source material justice, which was possible during the 16-bit era. Which makes you wonder why they can’t get it right now.

The ‘Super’ series at its core was nothing more than a side-scrolling platformer. What it lacked in graphical prowess it made up with solid gameplay, and a certain charm. All three games allowed you to play through as multiple characters. The original Super Star Wars allowed you to play as Luke, Han Solo, and Chewbacca. And they returned as the cast for Empire Strikes Back, which would allow for the first use of force powers in a Star Wars game. Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi expanded upon the roster by allowing you to play as Princess Leia, and Wicket the Ewok.

I really can’t say a whole lot about the series other than it’s a very worthy side scrolling platform. Its most impressive feat was staying so close to the original stories of the trilogy even when the limited technology of the SNES might have detracted from it. If you have a SNES, and happen to live near a vintage game shop, then do yourself a favor and try to find these games.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) — Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: Sith Lords

I should preface this by saying that I’m a huge Bioware fanboy. I’m really not a fanboy of any other entertainment entity other than Bioware. Of course as they’ve only released quality games throughout the years, it’s kind of hard not to be. Anyway, this leads up to what could be considered an even greater story than the Dark Forces series.

When the news hit that KOTOR would be coming to the PC, and Xbox I was skeptical. I really didn’t think that the Star Wars universe was a right fit for a RPG. The reason is that most of the combat is based on moving, and covering from blaster fire, and the kinetic light saber duels. Then I heard that Bioware would be the dev studio behind the game. I couldn’t believe it, because up until then they only dealt with D&D properties. My skepticism turned to optimism, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the game.

I received the game as a Christmas present, and I played it the entire week of my break. I couldn’t stop. The story, combat, and immersive world were utterly addictive. I believe it took me about four days to beat the game, and that was with me exploring all of the side content I could get my hands on.

The story takes place 4,000 years before the original trilogy. When the Jedi, and Sith were plentiful and locked in a grueling battle for control of the force. The game follows an unnamed character, who is linked to a strong sith lord named, Darth Malak. The game progresses as you find out more about this character, because in the beginning he/she starts out with memory loss. I can’t really go into much more for fear of giving away too many spoilers.

The gameplay of KOTOR should be familiar if you’ve played a Bioware RPG before. They adopted the D20 style combat, and brought it to the Star Wars universe. For the most part it worked, and it added a strategy to combat not seen in any Star Wars game before. My only gripe is that like any RPG, the gameplay feels slower compared to the Star Wars action titles.

If you’re a fan of RPGs, and Star Wars then you need to do yourself a favor and pick up the KOTOR series. With an epic storyline, wonderfully detailed world, and some open-ended strategic gameplay, there’s a whole lot to get involved with.

Honorable Mentions

This is a list of the games that while of good quality aren’t quite as recommended as the ones above. Therefore, not as worthy of a write-up, but if you come across them you might want to try them out.

Conclusion

It’s quite amazing how the quality of Star Wars games has kept up throughout the years. Sure there have been a few clunkers here and there, but for the most part its been a wonderful ride. Even some of the honorable mentions I listed still hold special place in my heart.

If you’ve never played any of the Star Wars games I’ve mentioned then do yourself a favor and check them out. Even if you don’t like Star Wars, these games are worthy to play because they’re fun and of real high quality.